 |
| desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora map |
2 days 1 night sahara desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora
Brief description
The 2 days 1 night desert tour to Zagora is the shortest desert tour that you can do from Marrakech, it is a condensed experience designed to satisfy travellers that do not have much time to experience the real Sahara desert. In just 2 days, you will enjoy a big part of Morocco's landscapes and ecosystems. Starting from the famous metropolitan city of Marrakech and ending by camel trekking to the desert of Zagora, passing by the high atlas mountains and stoping in the UNESCO world Heritage classes site of Ait Ben Haddou.
Note: Zagora dunes are small, and its desert is more rocky, if you want big dunes we suggest either Erg chgaga or Erg Chebbi in Merzouga, that would actually take at least 3 days or more.
Itinerary
Day 1: Marrakech – Tizi-N-Ticha - Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Zagora
The 2 days desert tour start early in the morning, around 8:00 am, our driver will pick you up from your riad or hotel in Marrakech. soon enough you will leave the noise of the imperial city behind you and head south east for a great adventure.. after about 100km you will notice that you will start getting higher in altitude, that's where the chain of the Atlas mountains starts. That's where the adventure begins, you will get to see amazing views of the various berber villages on the way, before stoping for a nice view from the tope of the Tizi N'tishka pass (2160 m high).
 |
| Tizi N'tishka pass |
The tour continues through the mountains but the frequent change of the scenery will keep you entertained so that you don't get bored before reaching Ksar "Ait Ben Haddou", the famous fortified village that is known by the movies that used it as a natural location for their scenes. And that became a UNESCO world heritage site back in 1987.. You will then have lunch there and visit the Ksar that looks like a castle but in a moroccan style.
 |
| Ait Ben Haddou |
After some nice delicious moroccan meal, you will continue your tour, the next stop is Ouarzazate, nicknamed "Hollywood of Africa" due to the movie studios and films location sets it has.. 90 kilometers from Ouarzazate, you will reach Agdz, and get the chance to see the amazing view of its palmeraie from a high point. (if you did not had lunch in Ait Ben Haddou, you could have it here in Agdz, it has some Kasbah that have a breathtaking view over the palm grove.
The desert trip goes on until you reach the city of Zagora, your camels will be waiting for you for a nice camel trekking experience that will take you inside the sand dunes once the paved road stops.
After having some tea with mint, you will get to witness the majestic sunset in the heart of the sahara desert. And then you will have dinner in the berber camp, along with some berber music played by locals around a bonfire. If you are lucky to come in a clear sky day, do not miss your unique chance to do some stargazing, the bright stars in the sky of the desert is not something to be missed, because there are no bright lights..
Day 2 : Zagora – Draa valley – Agdez – Ouarzazate – Marrakech
The second day of the tour starts early, we really recommand that you catch the sunrise within the dunes, an opportunity to get some pictures before having breakfast and riding your camels again back. Your second camel trekking will bring you back to where you left the car the day before, so you could hit the road again.
Once you leave Zagora you will go through the valley of daraa again, a second chance to take some pictures of the palms and kasbah in the road. If you have not visited Ait Ben Haddou the day before you will have the chance to visit it today, as some prefer to skip it the first day to save some time for the desert, especially when the days are short in winter. Otherwise you will just continue through the Atlas mountain again, enjoy the beautiful berber villages and see whatever you might have missed on the way before.
Your desert tour ends in Marrakech, the driver will drop you at your riad or hotel.
